Friday, 1 May 2009

Doncare Op Shops.

I spent this afternoon re-visiting some op shops in my area that I hadn't been to for a while. One of them had a stack of brochures on the counter, titled "The Op Shop Trail", so I picked one up to bring home. What a super idea!! I wonder why other charities with a chain of opshops don't do this?

In this case, the charity is Doncare, and they have five excellent opshops, which you can see online at their web page here. The pictures show the outside as well as inside of each shop, so if you go looking for them you'll have an idea of what you are looking for. By the way, the shops are run mostly by dear old ladies who don't want to rip anybody off, so they tend to undercharge rather than overcharge. I added my items up myself before I approached the counter, and in both shops, the total was less than what I figured. Rather than correct them and make them feel stupid, I handed them a single note which was higher than what they quoted me, and said "Keep the change", and they thought that was nice! Here is my stash:
Heap of lovely old stitching magazines.

Bundles of laces to use for crafty stuff.

I have several embroidery hoops, but smaller and larger than this, so this one is a valuable addition to my collection.

I guess most people would wonder why I looked twice at this handkie, but it is a beautiful example of 'shadow work', a type of embroidery.

The rest of these are doilies, all with exquisite stitching. I've added a closeup picture of the centrepiece with fuschias, as it really is a show piece.







Sorry if I've bored some of you with my doilies, but I've linked my post with one of my other blogs, so that my fellow stitchers can come across and have a look.

5 comments:

  1. Nice finds Gina, those doiliies were a great find
    Not that many 'good' op shops close to my suburb so I will have to broaden my viewing area
    Will have a look at that web site for more info Thanks
    Take care
    Cathy

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  2. Those are great finds and I love the doilies!
    Will have to have a gander at the Doncare op shops now :)

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  3. I love the d'oyleys. I always look for them! I make them into bags and quilts - if they have holes or stains, I absorb that bit in a seam...

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  4. Gorgeous doilies. Such a great thing to find. It is hard to believe anyone would discard them.

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